From here:
It’s not a foregone conclusion.
As much as some quarters would have everyone believe, there’s no telling how the 2016 General Synod will act on a motion to change the church’s law so that clergy can marry same-sex couples.
The answer will come in about nine months, when the church’s governing body gathers for its triennial meeting in Toronto. But right now, there’s work to be done, if the church hopes to arrive at a faithful and principled decision about this weighty matter.
In 2013, General Synod passed Resolution C003, which asked Council of General Synod (CoGS) to draft a motion “to change Canon XXI on marriage to allow the marriage of same-sex couples in the same way as opposite-sex couples.” It also asked for supporting documentation that: demonstrates broad consultation about the motion; explains how this motion does not contravene the Solemn Declaration; confirms immunity under civil law and the Human Rights Code for bishops, dioceses and priests who refuse to participate or authorize the marriage of same-sex couples on the basis on conscience; and provides a biblical and theological rationale for this change in teaching on the nature of Christian marriage.
Considering the report is focussed almost exclusively on legitimising same-sex marriage no matter what 2000 years of Biblical understanding and tradition have to say on the matter, and considering that most conservatives have already abandoned the Anglican Church of Canada, I should think passing the motion is a forgone conclusion. We shall see.
Any ACoC priest planning on exercising the conscience clause who takes comfort in the report’s claim that he would be immune from civil prosecution is living in a fantasy world.
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, acknowledged that it would be a challenge to ensure that when they arrive at General Synod, delegates would have read the report so that they can join discussions in an informed and meaningful way. And, one might add, so they can vote confidently and independently.
I wonder if these heretics have worked out that they are basically telling the world “Our god has no principles so we just vote for whatever”?
But that’s such an ugly way to put it! Truthful, maybe, but ugly. It needs some dressing.
It is still not too late to make a dent in the general ignorance of the issues that I believe reigns among the members of GS. If every concerned reader of this blog saw to it that copies of these two Canadian books:–
http://www.amazon.ca/Same-Sex-Marriage-There-Stand/dp/146000163X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1448498133&sr=8-4&keywords=a+leg+to+stand+on
and http://www.amazon.ca/Holy-Homosex-Priscilla-D-Turner/dp/1482347865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448497966&sr=8-1&keywords=holy+homosex%3F
were in the hands of each delegate, we might still see repentance and amendment of life and thinking.
If I am capable of learning and growth, may I say that those delegates are not? What would such a stance say about my spirituality, or theirs? “Love hopes all things.”
Dr. Turner, I am sure the publications are excellent, but If they won’t likely read the report, what makes you think they’d read a book?
Faith and hope, particularly if the delegates can be made to see that what is at stake is the membership of the ACoC in the Anglican Communion, not to mention the Church Catholic. I also believe and hope that you and other readers and commenters here are capable of buying, reading, understanding and passing on writing which may change people’s minds and lives for time and eternity.